How Do You Determine the Year of a Vehicle From the VIN?

By looking at the 10th digit on the Vehicle Identification Number sequence, one is able to determine the year of the vehicle, explains Jalopnik.com. The code used for the year the car was manufactured has varied since 1980.

If the car was built between 1980 and 2000, the 10th digit of the VIN code is denoted by letters between A and Y, excluding letters O, I and Q, which are not used in the VIN sequence for the sake of clarity. For cars that were built between 2001 and 2009, the 10th digit is represented by numbers 0 to 8. For example, if the car was built in 2008, this is denoted by the number 8.

Beginning with the year 2010, manufacturers reset the VIN code for the year of the car to the letter A. This does not refer to the date that the car was sold, but to when it was manufactured.